Hi, hello, and a question on etiquette!

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I'm a tattoo customer. I've got 8 tattoos from my head down to my feet. I came here hoping for some advice. I'll try to keep this short-ish, But, I would love some insight.

Background: Over a year ago, I'd scheduled a tattoo with a shop in town because a friend of a friend worked there. Before the appointment time, the artist we'd booked with quit, so, the owner of the shop offered to keep our appt, and do the tattoo (It was an illustration from The Giving Tree by Shel Silverstein, not something another artist had drawn.) A few months ago, it came time to get another tattoo. And, I called up that shop, and booked a consult with the owner (As he'd done my last one, and I like being consistent.) He drew up a sketch of what I wanted (A peacock feather on my side.) but, when it came time to book an appointment, he was booked out for 3-6 months. SO, he told me to book with any of his artists that were available sooner, and they could do the tattoo.

I booked my appointment, and had the outline done. And, I scheduled a return to do the color, with the same artist a month later.

This brings us to January, my appt to get the coloring done, was set for January 20th. On January 10th, David Bowie died. (This ties in, I promise.) And I called the shop, and asked my artist, instead of doing the coloring, could we do a Bowie tattoo, and reschedule the peacock feather fill in for the following month. He agreed, and on January 20th, I went in and got the tattoo done, and re-booked the peacock feather for February.

Fast forward to today. The shop called to let me know that the above artist is no longer with the shop. The woman on the phone said that the shop would keep my appt, and have one of their artists do the work, or, that I could reach out to the original artist (via his preferred social network) to schedule the appt with him.

What is the appropriate response here?

Insight would be appreciated. I'm not sure what the proper thing is, since several artists have had hands in the creation of this tattoo.

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My name is Kim, and I'm a tattoo customer. I've got 8 tattoos from my head down to my feet. I came here hoping for some advice. I'll try to keep this short-ish, But, I would love some insight.

Background: Over a year ago, I'd scheduled a tattoo with a shop in town because a friend of a friend worked there. Before the appointment time, the artist we'd booked with quit, so, the owner of the shop offered to keep our appt, and do the tattoo (It was an illustration from The Giving Tree by Shel Silverstein, not something another artist had drawn.) A few months ago, it came time to get another tattoo. And, I called up that shop, and booked a consult with the owner (As he'd done my last one, and I like being consistent.) He drew up a sketch of what I wanted (A peacock feather on my side.) but, when it came time to book an appointment, he was booked out for 3-6 months. SO, he told me to book with any of his artists that were available sooner, and they could do the tattoo.

I booked my appointment, and had the outline done. And, I scheduled a return to do the color, with the same artist a month later.

This brings us to January, my appt to get the coloring done, was set for January 20th. On January 10th, David Bowie died. (This ties in, I promise.) And I called the shop, and asked my artist, instead of doing the coloring, could we do a Bowie tattoo, and reschedule the peacock feather fill in for the following month. He agreed, and on January 20th, I went in and got the tattoo done, and re-booked the peacock feather for February.

Fast forward to today. The shop called to let me know that the above artist is no longer with the shop. The woman on the phone said that the shop would keep my appt, and have one of their artists do the work, or, that I could reach out to the original artist (via his preferred social network) to schedule the appt with him.

What is the appropriate response here?

Insight would be appreciated. I'm not sure what the proper thing is, since several artists have had hands in the creation of this tattoo.

Thank you!

OK here is the proper way to act if you started with that artists you should seek them out. You never know if he or she was treated with respect and how they come to leave the shop. Seek them out to finish what they started. It bad manners for the shop to immediately try to pass you off to someone else to do the work. The shop owner is just being passive aggressive. Trying to hold the money in their shop. If you choose this artist based on their quality or style. Don't let them shove any body on you. Respect your self your choices and the artist who created the work. However if you just walked in and let whomever was available to tattoo you then you really don't care about your work and you should continue to behave that way...

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OK here is the proper way to act if you started with that artists you should seek them out. You never know if he or she was treated with respect and how they come to leave the shop. Seek them out to finish what they started. It bad manners for the shop to immediately try to pass you off to someone else to do the work. The shop owner is just being passive aggressive. ]

So, first of all, thank you for your response. And, you're right, I don't know the reasons for the artist leaving. But, I also don't feel like the shop was passing me off on someone else to do the work. I felt that they were trying to keep the appointment, and not leave me without a tattoo artist at the time of my appointment.

I also would like to argue that I didn't just walk in, and that I don't care about the work. I totally respect the artists that have worked on me, and love the collaboration that stems from great tattoo work. HOWEVER, this peacock feather piece has already had several hands on it, from consult to actualization, and I am struggling with where the loyalty should be. I appreciate that the shop is trying to make sure that they fulfill their promise to actualize my tattoo, and, I don't know the artist's reasons for leaving, or if he was let go, or what.

Thank you for the input, I appreciate hearing the various opinions here as I try to come up with how I am moving forward!

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if you like the original artist's work on your bowie and what he's done with your feather so far, i'd seek him out. easy as that. as you mentioned, the shop already suggested that as an option and they should completely understand.

as far as loyalty goes.. the owner originally sketched the feather, but did the tattooer use that exact sketch or did he do his own thing? i feel like that's the only value added step in the process you've mentioned. even still, the owner passed you to the other tattooer, so loyalty doesn't seem to be an issue from that standpoint.

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Thanks to everyone for their replies! I emailed the original artist, and told him the shop had informed me he was no longer working with them. I asked him about setting up an appointment to finish up the peacock feather that he started, and thanked him again for his work on the stunning Bowie tattoo. (Photo coming next.)

Will explore another option with the shop if I don't hear back from him in a week or so. But, that's where I'm at right now.